In another incident of caste oppression, a Dalit groom in Gujarat was allegedly not allowed to ride a horse on the way to his wedding. The incident took place on June 17 in Mansa taluka of Gandhi Nagar district where the wedding procession was allegedly threatened and humiliated by a group of village men.
Vipul Solanki, the cousin of the groom, told The Indian Express, “However, as soon as we reached the village, some 10-15 villagers, belonging to the Darbar community, threatened the person who had brought the horse. They threatened us saying that the groom cannot ride a horse because it is something which only “shoorvir” (courageous) like Darbars can do.”
The groom, who works at a dairy plant, had to call the police to seek protection.
The police clarified that no FIR was filed during the ceremony. “We provided the marriage party protection. The procession was carried out peacefully. The wedding has got over. So far, no FIR has been registered. If, anybody from the groom’s or bride’s family lodges a complaint, we will register it,” said Mansa Inspector PJ Patel.
“I had travelled from Mehsana to Parsa in car and when we reached the bride’s village; my relatives arranged a mare so that I can ride on it till the bride’s house from the village entrance. But this did not go well with some darbar members, who had first objected to bursting crackers by my relatives and they became more aggressive when they saw a mare being arranged for me,” confirmed a TOI report.
A similar incident also took place last month in Jodhpur where a Dalit groom was forced to get down from the horse, was beaten and humiliated. A dozen men came and forcibly took the groom off the horse and beat him up mercilessly. Later, he was taken to a hospital and an FIR was also registered under the relevant sections of IPC and the SC/ST Atrocities Act.
In April this year, a Dalit groom from Hathras was forced to take an 800m long route to the bride’s house after a group of Thakur families did not ‘grant him permission’ to take his baraat through Nizamganj village in Kasganj district. Kumar approached the HC to register a complaint after which the Kasganj district police brokered peace between the lower-caste family and the Thakur families.
(Written by Simran Kathuria)
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